Race to the Finish

Our friends at Texas BOMA with the latest and greatest:

The elections are fast approaching. While traditionally that would mean that legislators
will take a lighter load, this year is different. Unlike previous years, when the primary election
season ended in the spring, providing a break of several months before the fall campaigns, the
elections this year were delayed until summer. This has pushed the interim committee meetings
from being held during the summer to being held in the fall.

The Presidential Race
President Barack Obama (D) and former Governor Mitt Romney (R) are in a close race
for President of the United States. While President Obama had held a commanding lead for most of the year, we have seen the race tighten in the last week since the first presidential debate.Between now and the election day, there will be two more debates between President Obama and Governor Romney, and one debate between Vice President Joe Biden and Congressman Paul Ryan. 

State Races
In Texas, we have not seen much of a shift from our last writing about the elections. At this time, we do not see strong down-ballot coattails from either President Obama or Governor Romney to help one party over the other. Because of the state’s historic leaning, we anticipate Republican Ted Cruz will defeat former State Representative Paul Sadler in the race for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R).

Down ballot, we still count twelve competitive House races. Our best estimates have
Democrats picking up several of those seats, which should put the partisan breakdown of the
Texas House at about 95 Republicans and about 55 Democrats. In the Senate, we see one
competitive race. Senator Wendy Davis (D-Fort Worth) is facing a challenge from
Representative Mark Shelton (R-Fort Worth) in SD 10. This is a close race. Depending on its
outcome, the Texas Senate will have either 19 or 20 Republicans and either 12 or 11 Democrats.
 
Senate Committee ShakeupLt. Governor David Dewhurst (R) recently named new committee chairmen. While Senator Tommy Williams (R-The Woodlands) was named chairman of the Senate Finance Committee several weeks ago, Governor Dewhurst decided to roll out additional committee chairmen this past week. Importantly for Houston Community College, Senator Zaffirini (DLaredo), who has chaired the Senate Higher Education Committee since its creation in 2009, will now chair the Senate Government Organization Committee. Replacing her on the Higher Education Committee is Senator Kel Seliger (R-Amarillo).
 
Interim Hearings
Last month, the House Business & Industry Committee held an interim hearing to discuss, among other things, Texas lien laws. Several subcontractors testified at the hearing, asking for changes to lien laws that would better protect them. However, on the other side, banks, builders, and other interests testified that the lien laws generally work well in Texas. The other side said that to the extent there are changes necessary, they should be small tweaks, as
opposed to a wholesale rewrite of the lien laws. As was true last session, we anticipate several
bills being filed this session dealing with lien laws.

We will continue to monitor the situation and keep you informed.